The Right-Wing Backlash Against Glenn Beck: Stop Being A ‘Clown’

[cal04]

The Right-Wing Backlash Against Glenn Beck: Stop Being A ‘Clown’ Who’s Trying To Divide Conservatives
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/02/23/beck-backlash/

Over the weekend, Fox News host Glenn Beck delivered a spirited speech to the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he attacked not only his usual villains — Democrats, Van Jones, and the New Deal — but also the Republican Party, which is supposedly becoming too progressive.

Beck may have received a standing ovation at the convention, but many high-profile conservatives have been less enthusiastic about his GOP criticism. Right-wing pundit Bill Bennett wrote, “The first task of a serious political analyst is to see things as they are. … And there is a difference between the Republican and Democratic parties. To ignore these differences, or propagate the myth that they don’t exist, is not only discouraging, it is dangerous.” The Wall Street Journal’s John Fund said that several Republicans “complained that Mr. Beck is indirectly encouraging third-party candidates to challenge them this year, threatening to divide the conservative vote.”

One of the most prominent voices to jump into the fray is popular right-wing radio host and author Mark Levin, who went on Facebook yesterday and ripped Beck:

I have no idea what philosophy Glenn Beck is promoting. And neither does he. It’s incoherent. One day it’s populist, the next it’s libertarian bordering on anarchy, next it’s conservative but not really, etc. And to what end? I believe he has announced that he is no longer going to endorse candidates because our problems are bigger than politics. Well, of course, our problems are not easily dissected into categories, but to reject politics is to reject the manner in which we try to organize ourselves.

Finally, Beck is fond of congratulating himself for being the only or the first host to criticize George Bush’s spending. This is demonstrably false. … And as someone who fought liberal Republicans in the trenches when campaigning for Reagan in 1976 and 1980, I don’t need lectures from Beck, who was nowhere to be found, about big-spending Republicans.

On his radio show yesterday, Levin added, “Decide what you are. A circus clown, self-identified. Or a thoughtful and wise person. It’s hard to be both. You can’t wear the clown nose and not wear the clown nose at the same time.” He also told Beck to “stop dividing” conservatives at a time when there is unprecedented “unity” in the movement. Listen here:


Levin has been worried about Beck’s ascendancy for some time. In September, Levin repeatedly spoke out when Beck said that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) would have been “worse for the country than Barack Obama” as president, saying, “If you’re not going to be politically sensible and have a strategy and have an end-game, you’ll keep winding up on weekly magazines, you’ll keep making a lot of money, but in the end you won’t make a difference.”

[fascisthunter]

1. "He's Incoherent"

most of what the right wing states is incoherent.

[Telly Savalas]

31. But there's incoherent...

then there's claiming that the latest Batman movie is an allegory for Bush's efforts to combat terrorism.

[Warpy]

2. Uh, don't they get the fact that the man is nuts?

I think Beck has been crazy for years and was only able to keep the lid on it with alcohol. Once he quit drinking, the crazy started popping out all over the place.

He's giving a voice to inchoate rage. Of course he has no policy, no plans or no solutions. He's not in the business of solving anything, just of stoking the rage that's already out there.

Besides, he's nuts, guys.

[Richardo]

5. He's not crazy - that's the dangerous part.

He knows EXACTLY what he's doing.

[Itchinjim]

23. Bi-polar.

Trust me, I know a thing or two about manic-depression and Glen should be eating lithium by the wheelbarrow full.

[Warpy]

26. That's my guess, too

except I don't see him cycling. One of my cousins is like that, continuously manic off his meds.

[Richardo]

3. Pot to Kettle: "You're black."

If Mark Fucking Levin thinks you're a clown, go ahead and super-glue the nose to your face - he's the biggest clown there is, and knows of what he speaks.

[sharp_stick]

4. I think poor Mark Levin

is getting a little pissed that his vanilla level of crazy just isn't cutting it with the assholes that populate the repuke party these days.

[Political_Junkie]

6. Yep!

:rofl:

[FSogol]

7. LOL, Levin's not Conservative enough for the modern day GOP!

:rofl:

[yellowcanine]

8. Mark Levin is calling people "clowns"? Talk about your pot kettle blacking.

Have you ever listened to the guy? Mark knows about being a clown.

[11 Bravo]

17. I can't listen to him. That high-pitched, nasal, whine makes me want to drive a 16 penny nail ...

straight into my eyeball.

[yellowcanine]

27. Particularly when he gets into a rant of faux outrage - which happens about every other sentence.

As I said, he IS the personification of clownish behavior.

[YOY]

9. Hey Mark? This is the kind of loon you helped create.

Choke on it.

[DirkGently]

10. What a mess conservatives are in

Disorganized, rudderless, divided, leaderless, frenetic, yet undisciplined.

Can't help but think their disarray is not being well taken advantage of. What was it Aasif Mandvi said on the Daily Show -- the Republicans have an "overwhelming minority?"

:shrug:

[Uncle Joe]

11. It's all for show, they're just trying to create a box; for the suckers to live in, there is nothing

Progressive about the Republican Party, Beck knows it and as the Party has no messages other than tax cuts for the rich, while supporting corporate supremacy over the people, incoherence is their best marketing strategy.

This is a version of Republican political professional wrestling where the "good" wrestlers say the "evil" wrestlers are full of poo and the audience gets suckered in to believing it's for real, and subsequently relieved of their hard earned money for a fake show.

The Republican Party is a fully owned and operated subsidiary of the corporate supremacists.

Thanks for the thread, cal.

[Contrary1]

12. Well, then; it's official...

The Teabaggers' idol needs to speak publicly even more often.

[Blue_Tires]

13. it was THEM who puffed up his image to national status to begin with

it's like them complaining that Palin is too overexposed and media hungry -- oh wait....

[subterranean]

14. As long as his clown act gets high ratings, he'll continue to be a clown.

[11 Bravo]

15. Next up: Rush, stop being fat. Cheney, stop being a snarling, rabid ferret.

Ain't gonna happen.

[stanwyck]

19. Hey, as a former (major point - former) ferret owner

I resent that remark on behalf of the (4) ferrets we had as pets. (Not at one time. We're not that crazy).
Ferrets are much more lovable than Cheney. But, alas, just as smelly.

[robertpaulsen]

16. There is not enough popcorn in the world to enjoy this circus!

:rofl:

[malaise]

18. Psychobabble on steroids

:hi:

[Toasterlad]

20. "A circus clown, self-identified. Or a thoughtful and wise person. It’s hard to be both."

Unless you're John Stewart. Or Stephen Colbert. Or Patton Oswalt or David Cross or Greg Giraldo.

The problem isn't that you can't be both humorous and truthful. The problem is that Beck is a shitty comedian, and that, in general, Republicans have no sense of humor.

[tom_paine]

21. Glenn Beck for Fuehrer!

Will the American Corporatists lose their grip on what they created, like the German Industrialists did in the 1930s?

Stay tuned The fun has just begun!

[hatrack]

22. Wull gee-whiz, Mark - the useful idiots are finally demanding the ringmaster's job - whaddya know?

And who let them into the tent? That's right, you and your paymasters, that's who.

Suck it up and STFU, you necrotic mandrill.

[Binka]

30. Necrotic Mandrill

Have I told you how much I love you lately? :loveya:

[ChicagoSuz219]

24. Maybe you can get him to stop crying & barking, too.

I'm just sayin'... it's really disturbing... ;-)

[Martin Eden]

25. Levin to Beck: "but in the end you won’t make a difference"

Any "difference" that Beck makes does not bode well for the Republican Party.

[JHB]

28. Bill Bennett? Who's that?

It seems a little dopey to have Bill Bennett commenting on Glenn Beck. Beck and his listeners have obviously never heard of the man, since they apparently never heard of a US official labeled a "czar" before the Obama administration.

[AsahinaKimi]

29. Are they just figuring this out now??

Aw come on! Glenn Beck is Fox's GOLDEN BOY! .. He has even been suggested to run for President of the US. (Crap, thats all we need!)

The guy gets WAY TOO MUCH PUBLICITY.. and he would lose any debate with any Democrat, Liberal or Progressive. The man is a sham. He is a crackpot. Which goes to show, one thing.


(Repeat after me..)

Fox News Sucks.

[Blue Owl]

32. Krusty the Konservative Klown

Or just KKK for short.